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That makes sense
senses My human family’s very nice.I have to say they try;It’s not their fault I do thingsand they cannot figure why. I guess they’re smart (or sort of),but a way that they are dense isthat they have never figured outthat I have extra senses. When I come into any room,I know (I’m never off),The best… Continue reading
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Try the chicken
“Abligurition” is an impressively obscure word, so rare that you won’t even find it in most dictionaries. Even in the dictionaries where it does appear (well, okay, the one dictionary where it seems to appear), it’s called obsolete. This is certainly unjustified; after all, even if the word itself is unfamiliar to most people, the… Continue reading
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F**k those guys
Córy Doctorow posted a searing commentary on people with power ignoring advice, doing stupid things, and screwing LOTS of things up for everybody who’s not in the 1% — or possibly the 0.1%. Reagan is still the #1 on my list of most malevolent recent US presidents, but Doctorow’s info bumps Clinton’s position, so congratulations,… Continue reading
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If you’ve got the location…
This is a good argument for installing solar panels closer to ground level, at least in the snow zone. The snow fell yesterday, and today is sunny and I thought warm enough that the snow on the panels would melt enough to slide off. Or are there solar panels designed for snow, with built-in warming… Continue reading
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Is it really all about fear?
At emptywheel, Ed Walker posted an interesting essay about why so many people voted for “a revolting bag of guts [who] has no integrity, no loyalty to the Nation or anyone besides himself, and no reason to want to be president other that personal gratification and staying out of jail.” He turned to Rousseau, who… Continue reading
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Reverse Robin Hood, revisited
Kevin Drum summarizes Republican taxation plans: cut taxes for the rich and pay for it by cutting benefits for people in the middle-class and lower economic tiers. This seems to have been the only idea Republicans have had for the last half-century. Maybe longer; I’m not an historian; I’m just old enough to remember Reagan… Continue reading
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The most important meal of the day
Breakfast is my favorite meal,but first I have a job.My first task is to wake my friend;the one who does doorknobs. Our first inspection? My back yardI check that it’s all fine.Then back inside and in a flashA breakfast dish is mine. My friend does silly human stuff;“Coffee” he will say.It doesn’t matter much to… Continue reading
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A Sunday drive
In the early days of automobile design, none of the standards we’re used to had emerged yet, even the most basic ones. Most very early cars didn’t have steering wheels. you steered them with a lever, which was called a “tiller.” English has two “tiller” words. The first has to do with farming; a tiller… Continue reading
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MIT center for constructive communication
I never heard of the MIT center for constructive communication before today. It’s associated with the Media Lab, and has a “commitment to reach both within and beyond academia to work closely with locally based organizations to launch pilot programs focused on building a culture of listening and dialogue that promotes a sense of shared… Continue reading
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This post costs you nothing
Just to show that it isn’t just obscure words that have interesting stories… Back in the 900s if you asked someone for “bread” in the British Isles, you’d either get a random piece of some kind of food or a blank stare. The word “bread” was rarely used at that time, and didn’t mean what… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer (among other things) located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. No surprise, she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my newsletter, Artisanal Scribbles, where I’m grappling with writing, authentic human authorship, integrity, and the craft of beauty in the AI age. You can also find some of my old software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly wrote tiny utilities in Python and shell scripts. I’m mostly retired from coding nowadays.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
Recent Posts
- I’d rather have a taco
- 20-something Hubris
- You can’t be a leader without followers
- Candy Trees and Handkerchiefs
- Reliability: just a movie plot now?
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